SEO Services, technology and web design

Written by Wes Robertson

It’s easy to overlook a vital segment when you’re marketing and branding: your own employees. Smart corporate gifts will be a perfect compliment your outward marketing efforts and include your employees. Don’t fail to include some gifts for your preferred clients or business partners while you’re at it… not just the companies that give you money directly. Use gifting opportunities to guarantee your employees and friends get as eager about your company as you want customers to be!

There are really two different basic approaches to how you’ll go about this. The safest plan of attack is really to treat a corporate gift precisely as you would any other promotional giveaway. Like you would with other promotional items, use a corporate gift to get your trademark and branding in front of people. Things that will end up in a visible location in the workplace is perfect. Everyone needs a timekeeper or a calendar, for instance, and these are both satisfactory additions to an employee’s workspace. These examples probably won’t work exactly for you (who doesn’t already have too many calendars?) but it will get your thought process on the right track. Maintain the brand you’re representing to the outside world in your internal promotion. Pretty much every major promotional products player will have sections to help you pick a corporate gift.

Individualized gifts, ones that go beyond a simple company logo stamped on promotional merchandise, are the other road to take. You will want to acquire something that will mesh well with the particular office culture in your company. Make your employees sense that they are appreciated by tapping into that culture! Something that is related to a recent joke that was a favorite in the office, or a funny customer call. It might be more difficult to get a feel for what’s right in bigger offices so you will want to do something different for different parts of the office. Get every division boss involved purchase decision, because sales managers and IT managers will have different ideas for a good gift.

So broad ideas are great but what is so great about the individual approach, precisely? When things are made more personal you’re sharing something that will mean more to your employees. Make sure you’re doing it right because this can also backfire. No one will really be incredibly fazed by receiving a kind of generic but silly gift like a printed foam bat. An insulated wine bag has more meaning because it’s more personal, but will annoy the folks who don’t drink wine or are actually unable to due to personal reasons. Every company has its own culture, so the most effective corporate gifting will be from someone who knows the shape of it. Wine sacks won’t be a problem if you’re a winery… if anyone has problems with wine they wouldn’t be there in the first place. Its shape comes from the employees, managers and product or services involved. Unless you’re confident that you really get how your employees think, it may be best to stick to the internal marketing approach.

Go ahead and make your clients bright and cheerful with astute corporate gifts using these recommendations while you’re at it. You’ll get all your bases covered, then. Happy clients and happy employees will mean happiness for you all!

Wes Robertson has been in the >custom promotional products industry for several years. He is an author and marketing consultant.